The Journal Star covered the public meeting Monday night on the proposed East Village TIF. They report that most people were concerned about eminent domain being used the way it was in the MidTown Plaza TIF. Also, this:

Other concerns expressed by residents focused on what type of development OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, […]

The East Village Growth Cell TIF District Redevelopment Plan and Program report by City consultant Teska Associates was published last week on the EastVillagePeoria.com website. I read the report over the weekend and observed the following:

The report frequently made reference to the City’s updated (2010) Comprehensive Plan, which has only been published […]

At a joint press conference in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced their countries’ agreement Thursday to allow their currencies to trade against each other in spot inter-bank markets, thereby formally renouncing the U.S. dollar….

The 123rd Annual SANTA CLAUS PARADE – the longest running holiday parade in the country – steps off at 10:15 AM on Friday, November 26th…. Please join us in this great Peoria tradition as the parade takes a magical journey through the downtown streets of Peoria. The 88 units of […]

After the Peoria City Council meeting, the council went into executive session for a long time. After an hour or so, Scott Moore emerged from the room alone and went up to his office, never to be seen again. The council met another half hour or so, then the meeting broke up.

Hello everyone. I just realized tonight — if I were to get elected to the council, I would no longer be able to liveblog the council meetings. Billy Dennis will have to stop sloughing off and cover the meetings for the blogosphere again.

Well, here we are in Council chambers, and here’s tonight’s agenda (below). As always, I’ll be updating this post throughout the evening, so refresh your browser if you’re following along live. The time is 6:37 p.m., and former mayor Bud Grieves is speaking — he’s just received a proclamation celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Mark Twain Hotel, which he owns. Congrats to him. The proclamation was notable because it pointed out that he received no public funding, but made it into a successful hotel with all private investment. Just remember that the next time some developer comes to City Hall saying they can’t be successful without $40 million of your tax money.

When they voted to approve the minutes, Sandberg’s light didn’t illuminate, as it’s apparently burned out. Mayor Ardis said, “Due to non-use, Councilman Sandberg’s green light does not work.” That got a laugh from everyone.

What do people want from city government? They want their streets to be plowed quickly after it snows so they can get to work on time. They want to feel safe when they go outside at night. They want the fire department to respond as quickly as possible when there’s a fire or other […]